Saturday, March 9, 2024

Time Passes

This finish happens at the perfect time since we turned our clocks ahead 1 hour late tonight or early tomorrow morning. I began this quilt in late December after reading a fictional quilting story that used a similar pattern. They used light with dark hourglass blocks of an unknown size, no sashing and arranged the dark triangles alternating between horizontal and vertical. I decided to use all kinds of scraps (I was definitely in scrap clean-out mode) and decided my quilt needed sashing. Time Passes is donation quilt measuring 51" by 53".

Here's a closer photo.

I quilted this with spiral loops using Glide #17443 Bone thread on the back and #80607 Lemon Ice on the top. 

The back is colored circles which was in my stash. Whenever I'm fabric shopping, I look at the wide backings. If there is something I don't often see or that I think I will use, it might come home with me. It's nice to have a good option in my stash.

I laundered the quilt and took photos. Then I saw a four spots where colors had run. Now the quilt has been laundered again   after I treated the spots with Dawn detergent and all is well.

Be sure to set your clocks ahead!

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Finshes, Two-Coloured Mystery, Hockey Quilt

I have a couple finishes. I think this is the end of the panels from my late friend Colleen.

Bright Animals is 39" x 46". I wasn't sure what to do with this panel and I didn't seem to have anything to use for a border so I just added a back and quilted it with Glide Steel Blue #38201 thread on the front and Bone #17443 on the back.

I quilted this donation quilt with a meandering motif. 

The back is from my stash.

ABCs is another donation quilt and finished at 37" by 49".

I used light turquoise #32975 Glide thread to quilt this with a loop de loop design. I did figure eights on the ends. 
 


The back is a multi-colored pattern from my stash.


The second clue of the Two-Colour Mystery came out this morning. Joanne gives some tips each week. This week she talked about checking for an exact seam allowance. I hadn't stopped and checked mine for a while so I checked this morning. All's good!

This clue was easy and the pieces went together quickly. I have everything finished for the week but of course, I'm only making a lap size quilt. The instructions are really clear and easy to follow.

Now I'm drawing some diagonal lines on a few pieces - Joanne said we could get a head start on some future weeks since this clue was a faster one. If you still want to join, click here or type in https://www.canuckquilterdesigns.com/. You need to sign up before April 11 to get all of the clues for free.


Work is progressing on the hockey quilt. Bet you can't guess the favorite hockey team! The letters are all pieced from my own patterns. My requirements were 1) each letter finishes at 4"x7" and 2) all parts of the letter are 1" wide.  

It took a little work to make the B and the W. And then it took a lot of work and chocolate to make the K and the S. I'm so glad they all look okay (at least they do to me!).

My plan is to have the words on the sides and ends of the quilt. The top will be a hockey rink. I have my plans drawn to scale and I now have all the fabrics, I think. Guess it's time to begin on the rink...

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Hello March and a New Mystery Quilt Along

It sure doesn't seem like March with temps in the 70s today although it's been very windy. 

I've done some quilting. This quilt top is now finished. If I had a back, it might be on the frame.

This quilt top is finished and I recently bought some backing. I just need to put it on the frame and quilt it.

I began a Mystery Quilt - I think I mentioned it in my last post,
Leap Into the Two-Colour Mystery Quilt-AlongJoanne, of Canuck Quilter Designs, has released the first clue and everything is very clear and easy to follow. It's not too late to sign up. If you are interested. the link is here. The first clue came out on Leap Day and we've been asked not to release any measurements so I covered my cutting mat with white fabric to show some of my cut pieces. This is a two color quilt so now you know what my two fabrics look like; I guess my two colors are blue and multi-colored!

I've finally started a Chicago Blackhawks quilt. This has been in the works for some time but It's taken a while to assemble the various fabrics. I began with making the letter C. The 34 letters on the front of the quilt will be pieced and 6 of them are 'C'. It's an easy letter to piece and is black on red.

I'm hoping to make lots of progress in the next month.


Saturday, February 10, 2024

A Good Week!

It's been a good, fun week. One day we went to Madison, WI and donated quilts to American Family Children's Hospital (UW Children's Hospital). That is always a rewarding trip for me. I took 20 quilts this time. I have more finished but I decided that since I've slowed down a bit, I'd make sure I'd leave a couple for the next trip too.


On the same day, Ray bought a new laptop computer and a monitor. Now we are in the process of figuring out how to move all his photos (RAW format) to the iCloud. This hasn't been a favorite part of my week but it is necessary. I think Ray still thinks he has his own computer expert. Ha!

Earlier in the week, I made a Mashed Potato Pie and it was good! It did not taste like potatoes - it tasted like a custard pie! I saw the recipe on Facebook, I think, and it is from a 1914 Methodist Church Cookbook from Hamilton, OH.

Irish Potato Pie

Unbaked pie shell (this wasn't mentioned in the recipe)
2 c boiled mashed potatoes (leftovers)
1 c cream (I used 3/4c milk and 1/4 c melted butter)
1 c sugar
3 egg yolks
dash nutmeg

Mix well.
Fold in beaten egg whites.

Bake at 375 degrees 50 minutes or until set (Mine took 65 minutes). Watch closely so it doesn't burn - may need to cover with foil. Refrigerate - this is a custard pie.

We also dipped some strawberries in chocolate. I don't ever remember doing this before. It was easy and our strawberries are huge. These are so good!

I have one quilt finish - Whale and Octopus. It's another panel quilt (I think I'm just about finished with the panels - there may be one more.) I sewed the three borders using a chain stitch on the serger because I wanted to try that. Using serger thread, which is lighter in weight, there isn't even a bump where the seam is. I was impressed. 

The quilt finished at 45" by 55". I quilted this with a meander stitch using Aurifil 40-wt #32975 light turquoise thread. 

The back is a tone on tone turquoise water print from my stash. This is another donation quilt.


I am waiting to begin a hockey quilt but my fabric hasn't arrived from Missouri Star. This is the first time that I've ordered from MSQC since the Pandemic when my order took 3 weeks to arrive. I thought things would be better. My fabric, ordered 1/31/24, arrived in New Berlin, WI on 2-2-24. It appears that it left there this morning for Chicago. Yesterday there was an Alert saying "No scheduled delivery date available at this time.". Today there is a message: "Scheduled Delivery Date 2/20/24 by end of day". Today is 2/10/24. My order was sent by FedEx SmartPost. I've been in touch with MSQC and they are doing nothing, saying their hands are tied. I think this will be my last order from MSQC unless they change carriers or I can choose my own carrier. 

I began a bargello quilt with a bundle of 29 fabrics - I decided that this might be fun. I've never made a bargello quilt but I have played with the concept before. After looking at pictures and doing a little research, here is the beginning:
Sorry about the shadows - one of my evening photos.

I think I found an important piece of advice about the seam pressing - Press each strip opposite (seams going inward or outward for each strip).
 
The seams nest well with the pressing. I have an odd number of strips so I have to switch one seam on some pieces as I sew the final strips together. 

I've also signed up to make a mystery quilt, Leap Into the Two-Colour Mystery Quilt-AlongI like Joanne's quilts (Canuck Quilter Designs) and think this will be fun. If you are interested, the link is here. I'm not sure what my two colors will be and I'm toying with the idea of using a print and a high-contrast plain. I do know the fabrics will come from my stash. Guess I'll decide around Leap Day when the first clue is released.

We've been enjoying our spring weather and our snow is gone. I think that means winter will return soon...

Sunday, February 4, 2024

What is your Lunar New Year / Chinese New Year sign?

At Nicholas Conservatorythese signs and the accompanying  cute little animals were scattered about. It took me a few minutes to realize that the animals went with the signs. 
Flying(?) rat



Ox


Tiger


Rabbit


Dragon


Snake and Horse



Goat, Monkey, and Rooster




Dog


Pig


I was born in the Year of the Rat. How about you? Is the Chinese Zodiac sign accurate in describing your personality?

I looked up the Chinese Zodiac and found the following from no.china-embassy.gov.cn:

The Chinese zodiac, or shengxiao, refers to the circle of 12 animals that measure the cycles of time. Signs or animals are determined by the lunar year in which you were born.

Legend has it that a god beckoned all animals to bid him farewell before his departure from Earth. Only 12 of them, namely the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig arrived, with each given a place of honor in a year based on the order of arrival.

Different people born under each zodiac sign are believed to have different personalities that represent animals of the year. Sometimes people consult with their zodiac signs for compatibility before getting married.


A fun weekend

We just finished what we think is our last weekend of hockey games. We rented a small cottage in Machesney Park, IL, that was recently remodeled and quite nice. The weather was very springlike and sunny.

On Friday, we did a few errands including a stop at Quilter's General Store to buy some backing and binding fabric for some quilt tops.    
Backing and binding 

We enjoyed watching our oldest hockey playing grandson Friday night. 

We began Saturday with a stop at By The Dozen Bakery. After seeing an ad on TV and realizing that it was very close to our cottage, we decided to splurge on breakfast. The glazed old-fashioned donuts were fantastic! 


There was an orchid display and a celebration of the Lunar New Year. Here are a few photos.















   



We enjoyed watching two younger grandsons play hockey Saturday afternoon and the oldest one play Saturday night (on LIveBarn TV - he was in a Chicago suburb playing). On Sunday, we once again enjoyed watching the oldest play another game. Then we headed home. I'm hoping to find a little more quilting time this week.

Note: More about the Lunar New Year at Nicholas Conservatory in the next post.

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